French

Bonjour, la compagnie!  Whether you want to start a new u3a French group or are looking for ideas for your existing one I will try to help.

About me

After working in France for a few years I have been a member of a number of such groups as I have moved around the UK – and one thing is clear: they all have different needs, expectations and experience!

The document below, prepared by a former u3a adviser, has some sound common-sense ideas that will help you if you are starting a new group – but each group has to find it own best way of working together.

u3a French guidance notes amended DB Feb 2026.pdf (100.3 KB)

Since this guide was written the internet has expended the choice of material for you to use as the core of your learning or simply to supplement it. In fact it sometimes seems that there is too much choice. The important criterion is what works for you in the context of your own group – for example our current group enjoys listening to podcasts (again there is a lot of choice) in ‘slow’ French.

Groups

A few general points have struck me over the years, and I hope they may be helpful to your group.

Firstly, getting the overall size of the group right is important – in most cases four people seems to be about the minimum that works. And with more than eight it can be difficult to give everybody a fair turn at speaking. The ‘right’ number depends very much on the group’s personalities and abilities - and on how many will usually be there on any given day. If the group feels too big it may be worth encouraging a new one to form - but without destroying l’esprit of the old one!

Secondly, it is important to recognise the practical issues that come with a possibly wide range of abilities. Newcomers to the language should not feel discouraged and unable to be part of the fun. As far as listening to good French is concerned material in ‘slow French’ (as above) read clearly by a native speaker, with transcripts available for home study, works very well. Even better would be to encourage ex-teachers of the language, or local Francophone friends and neighbours to join you occasionally (if they are not already members) because they can interact actively and immediately to iron out difficulties.

And finally, it is worth encouraging members to get the basics right – the basic grammar is obviously important, but it is also worth spending time (with care and tact!) to encourage members to work on the pronunciation. I have found the most important things to get right are:

• the ‘r’ sound (but I have never yet heard a Parisienne/Parisien) roll the sound quite like Edith Piaf!)
• taking care to distinguish between the e, é and è sounds
• keeping a clear difference between ‘ou’ and ‘u’

But however important this may be, the most important thing is for all in the group to feel at home and able to improve their French in their own way. A lot depends on personalities – there is rarely any mileage in trying to put people back to a classroom approach.

If I can help you in anyway, say to set up a new group, or to share appropriate resources and ideas, just drop me a line or have a chat!